theRed crosse. 



THE DISCOVERY OF GUIANA a.d. 



1595. 



But this it chanced, that entering into a river, (which 



because it had no name, wee called the river of the The jive r of 



Red crosse, our selves being the first Christians that ever 



came therein) the two and twentieth of May, as wee were 



rowing up the same, wee espied a small canoa with three 



Indians, which (by the swiftnesse of my barge, rowing 



with eight oares) I overtooke yer they could crosse the 



river, the rest of the people on the banks shadowed under 



the thicke wood, gazed on with a doubtfull conceit what 



might befall those three which we had taken. But when 



they perceived that we offered them no violence, neither 



entred their canoa with any of ours, nor tooke out of the 



canoa any of theirs, they then beganne to shew themselves 



on the banks side, and offered to trafBque with us for 



such things as they had. And as wee drew neere, they all 



stayed, and we came with our barge to the mouth of 



a little creeke which came from their towne into the great 



river. 



As we abode there a while, our Indian pilot, called 

 Ferdinando, would needs goe ashore to their village to 

 fetch some fruits, and to drinke of their artificiall wines, 

 and also to see the place, and know the lord of it against 

 another time, and tooke with him a brother of his, which 

 hee had with him in the journey : when they came to the 

 village of these people, the lord of the Island offered 

 to lay hands on them, purposing to have slaine them both, 

 yeelding for reason that this Indian of ours had brought a 

 strange nation into their territory, to spoile and destroy 

 them. But the pilot being quicke, and of a disposed 

 body, slipt their fingers, and ran into the woods, and his 

 brother being the better footman of the two, recovered the 

 creekes mouth, where we stayed in our barge, crying out 

 that his brother was slaine : with that we set hands on one 

 of them that was next us, a very olde man, and brought 

 him into the barge, assuring him that if we had not our 

 pilot againe, we would presently cut off his head. This 

 olde man being resolved that he should pay the losse of the 

 other, cried out to those in the woods to save Ferdinando 



381 



